Iran's Masked Women

BANDAR ABBAS REGION, IRAN - NOVEMBER 2005: Zeynab, approximately 60 years old, had 10 children but 6 are dead. She is a housewife, and wears the mask for religous reasons, and to protect her skin. She is from the village of Chah Faleh. Many women in the southern part of Iran are wearing different kinds of masks. The tradition of the masks goes further back than the time when Islam came to Iran, but in this part of the country (especially in the villages) the tradition has been adapted as a part of Hijab. The traditional masks are black, some with gold. Within the last 30-40 years, the coloured masks started to show up and today they are subject to fashion. Most of the women wearing the masks are doing it due to the meaning of Hijab, but some are wearing it only to protect their skin from the getting tanned by the sun. (Photo by Klavs Bo Christensen/Edit by Getty Images)